Felt and felt material and articles, such as hats and hat bodies made of the same



vfiatenfzerl Got. 16, 1928 HYMAN STEIN AND WILLIAM; E. AUSTIN, OF NEW YORK, AND

\ mm LIEBOW'ITZ, or BROOKLYN, new roan, assrenons TO s'rnm run nrnmo co, Inc, or new roan, n: 72., .A conronarron or new YORK.

FELT AND FELT MATERIAL AND ARTICLES, SUCH AS HATS AND HAT BODIES MADE OF THE SAME:

Tito Drawing. Application filed February Our present invention relates to animal fibers, particularl such fibers in a condition Well suited for felting operations, and t the felted products themselves, and aims to devise animal fibers of the general character specified above which are in a condition remarkably well suited for subsequent felting operations and very well adapted to produce felted products of a high degree of quality. In particular, our present invention relates to a readily feltable animal fiber which, while retaining its natural strength to a very large degree, is not onliy readily feltable but is rendered, either be ore, during or after the carroting or equivalent operation, of a light color, so as to enable the same, either simultaneously with or after the bleaching operation, to be dyed a light or other suitable color. My invention relates also to; the resulting mass of" feltable fibers and to the felted fabric itself, as well as the partially or completely shaped felted bodies, such as blocked felthat bodies incorporating the feltable fibers or felted fabrics of the present invention. V

In the accompanying specification we shall describe illustrative embodiments of the products of the present invention. It is, however, to be clearly understood that our invention is notlimited to the specific embodiments thereof herein described for purposesof illustrationmerely.v It is further to be understood that the processes for making the products of the present invention, as herein described in order to make the present invention clear and the description of the same such as to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the invention, areclaimed in a copending application of ours filed of even such as fur skins and the like such skins, to render the same suitable for date herewith and entitled Methods of fabricating felts and felt materials Serial N o. s 306.

Before describing in detail the aforesaid illustrative embodiments of the present invention, it may be desirable briefly to point out certain disadvantages of the prion art so far as the same relates to the field of the present invention. Hitherto it has been proposed, for' example, to carrot animal fibers, or the hair of felting operations, by treating such skins or 10, 1925. Serial No. 8,367.

the hair of the same with an acid solution of nitrate of mercury. This treatment, if used by itself for the entire carroting operation, tends to weaken and otherwise hurt the hairs or equivalent fibers.

Furthermore, Wheredt is desired to obtainmechanically desirable feltable fiber from a dark colored skin by the usual bleaching and carroting? operations. On the other hand, lent animal fibers are first carroted, as by means of the treatment with the acid solution of nitrate of mercury referred to above, this treatment Would tend to render the subsequent bleaching operation imperfect and otherwise quite unsatisfactory. In any event,

both the carroting and the bleaching operations as hitherto conducted, in whatever order they have been carried out, would both singly and conjointly tend to considerably if the haii or equiva-- Weaken and otherwise impair the structure and appearance,'as well as the felting qualitles, of the fur, hair or other fibers to which tllie greatments of the prior art might be app 1e We have discovered that feltable fibers and felted masses of such fibers, as well as the felted fabrics themselves and the partially or completely shaped bodies, such as hat bodies, incorporating such feltable fibers'or fabrics, ma be made in accordance with the methods our copending ap lication filed of even date herewith and re erred to above. In practicing'the methods of our aforesaid application in the production of the products of the present invention, We able fur' skin or. the hair of such or any other suitable animal fiber which desired to convert into a feltable fiber. erably we treat a fiber which is dark and whic we desire to bleach into a light colored" readilyefelta'ble fiber. For example,

skin, it is Prefescribed and claimed in products of the present alkaline solution, such as we may take rabbit. skins of a dark color and treat the same with great success in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

dium' carb0nate.- However, this washing operation,

, quires from about two 'to'about three hours,

agent,

may be employed, although we prefer to dispense with the same in most instances.

We now treat the fur skins or the hair of the same, referred to above,'preferably the dark or' other colored rabbit skins or hair.

from such skins, with asuitable c arrotingpreferably a metalliccarrotings agent, but preferably only to the point of partial completion of the carroting step.

' otheranimal fibers in .trate of mercury, obtai i g 0 .the su sequent at thesame time, to

fact, the felting qualities 0? treat the fur skins or I the fabrication of the products of the present invention with ni- 'ned, for example,'by the solution of metallic mercury in nitric acid, thus obtaining an acid solution of .ni-. trate of mercury. This treatment is preferably continue'd only to the point of partial completion of the carroting operation, as,

. l For example, we may by using only one-half, or only two-thirds or three-fourths, or any suitable amount of' the acid solution of the nitrate ofmercury or equivalent metallic orwother carroting agent, short of the amount which would be required for the completion'df theicar'roteration. ThlSlS very desirable, since bleaching operation serves,

operation, all of which is done in the fabrication of the products of-the present invention'without destruction ofthe hair or other animal fibers and without in any way 1m-. pairing their ultimate feltin' qualities. In

1 animal fibers treated in'the fabr1cation of theproducts of the presentinvention are superior to those sulphate.

' of ordinary -such protective agent,

fibers treated in accordance'with the. methods hitherto employed for this purpose.

. We now treat the part ally carroted? fibers, prior to the-subsequent bleaching andcompletion of the carrotmg process, wit

a protective agent, generally a reducing com-u pound, preferably of mineral origin,such-as-.

a ferrous compound, for example, ferrous In some way, ;thereasons for not understood by us, 7

which are at present while permitting the 1 roducts of the present impaired.

agent,"prevents complete the CEIIOt1IIg ing action,

bleaching or decolorizing. action to proceed under the action of the bleaching agent with remarkable rapidity, protects the leather of the fur skin and the hair of the same from any destructive or weakening efiect of the bleaching agent.

For instance, decolorizing or bleaching of fur skins, hair or the like, of the products of the resent invention, takes place under the action of a bleaching agent such as hydrogen peroxide, for example, within a short time, as from about one to about four hours. This is contrasted with'the twent -four to seventy-two hours hitherto re aired for bleaching fur skins by the metho s hitherto commonly employed. At the same time the leather and hair of the skins and-the'fibers of the hair. or other animal fibers-bleached in'the fabrication of the. invention will be condition, with their lustre substantially unound to be in fine strength, texture and .14 a o I covered that the carrotmg operation is completed by what we have-thus far termed the bleaching operation. It appears that the hydrogen peroxide agent to complete the carroting operation only partially completed by the acid solution of nitrate of mercury or equivalent metallic carroting a ent.

While we o' not wish to be limited to anyparticulartheory or explanation as to .why this remarkable, mercially valuable result is obtained, our present explanation is that the presence on or in the, fibers of the fur skins or the like of the'mineral reducin agent or its equivalent, the effectiveness of which appears not to be diminished by the presence of the nitrate of mercury or other metallic carroting too violent'an 'action of the hydrogen peroxide or equiVaIentPbleaching agent. At the same time, the hydrogen peroxide or equivalent bleaching agent acts to complete the carroting operation 'andthc ultimate product is a fiber light in color and ing operations. In fact, the presence of the metallic protective agent, such as the ferrous compound referred to, or its equivalent,

in the production unexpected. and com- At thesame time, we have (115- or equivalent bleaching agent acts as a non-metallic carrotmg remarkably 'well adapted for subsequent'feltespecially in the presence of the nitrate of mercury or equivalent metallic compound carrotin'g agent, not only protects the leather and the hair of the fur skins or other 'animalfibers from destructive or weakenbut at the same time actually accelerates the desired decolorizing bleaching action and the completion of the -ca'rroting operation, so that the combined bleaching and c'arroting operation take only from about one to about four hours,

instead of the twenty-four to seventy-two or even destructive bleaching methods as hitherto practiced.

, sodium carbonate,

Since the protective agent, and bleaching accelerator, in the fabrication of the products of the ,j resent invention, generally com.- prises a re ucing agent or compound, prefe erably of minerahorigin, suchas a ferrous compound, for example, ferrous sulphate, which would tend to be oxidized more or less readily on exposure to the air, we prefer to add to the protective agent preferably before the same is applied to the fur skin or the like, prior to the bleaching and carroting operation, a stabilizing agent, The purpose of thestabilizing agent is to stabilize the protective agent and to prevent toorapid oxidation or deterioration of the same. W here, as is preferred, ferrous sulphate is used for the protective agent, we prefer to use for the stabilizing agent ammonium chloride. .The fur skins or the like, after having been treated with a solution of the protective compound which may or may not contain therein the stabilizing agent, are thereafter'subjected to the combined bleaching and carroting operation, after which they may be dyed in any of the light or other shades such as can at the present time be produced only by dyeing natural white or other light colored skins or other animal fibers, A

The following is a specific example of one mode of applying the method in the fabrication of the products of the present invention it being understood, however, that thefollowing description is given merely by way of illustration and that the process is nrt limited to the specific details of the following illustrative exa'nple:

The dark colored rabbit skins, preferably without being first washed or killed in an alkalinesolution, such as a solutionof which Washing operation ordinarily requires. from about two to about three hours, are immersed in an acid solution of nitrate of mercury in an amount sufficient only partially to carrot such skins or like animal fibers. For example, only one-half,'or even as much as two-thirds or three-fourths, ofthe usual amount of acid solution of nitrate of mercury is employed so that the carroting operation at, this stage is only partially completed.

The partially carroted skins or other animal fibers are then rinsed and thoroughly hydro-extracted.- The skins are then im-f mersed in a solution of theprotective agent,

' such as in a solution of. ferrous sulphate, and

there allowed to remain overnight. While the strength of the ferrous sulphate solution or its. equivalent may varywithin considerable limits, we prefer to use an aqueous solution of ferrous sulphate of a strength of from about 0.5 to about 5.0 per cent of the solid 4 character.

crystallized ferrous sulphate, by weight. Such a solution may or may not contain the stabilizing agent. If a stabilizing agent,

such as ammonium chloride, is used, We prefer to use it in an amount approximately proportionate to the amount of ferrous sulphate used and equalling from about 0.5 to about 5.0 per cent of ammonium chloride, by weight.

The fur skins or the like, after having been soaked for from about 8 to about 12 hours in the solution of the protective agent, with or without the addition of the stabilizing agent, are then rinsed and hydro-extracted. The treatment apparently impregnates or fills the voids and interstices of the fibers with the solution of protect've agent. The fur-skins thus. treated are now immersed in a solution of hydrogen eroxide or equivalent bleaching agent. owever, in place of hydrogen peroxide, we may use other bleach- 'ng agents, particularly sodium peroxide or.

sod um peiborate, which yield hydrogen peroxide in solution in the presence of certain'liberatingagents, generally of an acid The amount of'hydrogen peroxide used may vary from about five (5.0) to about one hundred (100.0) per cent by volume of a three (3.0) per cent solution of hydrogen peroxide. We prefer that the temperature at which the bleaching or decolorizing operaton is carried out shall be between 60 and F.

The skins or, hair. are subjected to the action of the bleaching and carroting agent until they have been sufficiently decolorized. The bleached and now completely carroted skins are then rinsed and can, if desired, be dyed directly in accordance with any of the well-known or desirable" processes employed for dyeing f urs or the like. We may, however, subject the bleached or decolorized skins or hair xto the usual dyeing operations of washing and mordanting, and then dyeing the' washed and mordanted skns or hair in'accordance with the practice hitherto generally employed for dyeing furs and hair.

It may here be stated that a metallic salt or salts may be added to the solution of the protective agent, with or without the stabilizing agent, provided such metallic salt or salts'are compatible with the ferrous .sulphate of equivalent protective agent. In such a case, the combined de colorizing and can r'oting process proceeds in exactly the same way as before, while the additional salt or salts may act as a mordant for the'subse quent dyeing process where a mordant is 'desired or needed for'this purpose. 'It may process may 'be'sfuccessfully methods of subjecting the fur skins or the like to the various partial"carroting?, proskins of other animal fibers the factors of temperatures,

.. lengths of time which have been dyed by the use the mineral protective tective, and combined bleaching and car-.

roting operations, as well as the subsequent mordanting and dyeing operations, will depend very largely upon the nature of the being treated, concentrations, of treatment, and the like, for any particular kind of animal fiber. or

the Lke, being readily determined by trial I I from the same.

and experiment. I

It may here be stated that in addition to agent, such as the ferrous sulphate, with or without the addition of the stabilizing agent, the solution for giving the fur skins or the. like their protective treatment for the subsequent comblned bleaching and c'a'rroting operation may contain other glue, gelatin, or the like, generally in relative ly small amounts. that the methods described-above may be applied with almost equal success in the treatment of, skins which have already been dyed, elthera dark or a light color, satisfactorily or not, but. preferably skins of a mor dant consisting of a ferrous compound, such as ferrous sulphatefor an equivalent substance, thus producing dyed skins and hair the superior products 1 characterized by I t properties of- .such fibers, and the strength,

described above.

It ma here be stated that under certain conditions the combined bleaching and carroting operation by means of a non-metallic carrotin agent may be carried out first, after which the carroting operation may be completed by regulating the amount and length of time of treatment with the acid solution of nitrate .of mercury or its equivalent. It may here also be stated that, the

bleaching operation may be carried out with complete success on fibers or even felts ale ready completely carroted. by treatment with an" acid solution of nitrate of mercury or equivalent reagent. In fact, the bleach-J be carried out with re-' ing operation may markable success on such as hat bodies, operation has been completed. Or else such fibers, masses of. felt, or shaped felted bodies may first be bleached and partially carrotedi and thereafter carroted to completion as already indicated above. The products of the, present invention, particularly as fabricated by the aforesaid illustrative. embodiments of the method more fully described 1 and claimed in our c'opending application filed of even date herewith and alread referred to above, are he remarkable felting shaped felted bodies of the felted fabrics and felt bodies made compatible metal salts, as well as suitable protective colloids,-such as- It'may here also be stated and whether metallic salt from the previously after the. carroting excessive chemical action I bleaching agent.

from such fibers and fabrics. At the same time, even where .a dark -polored rabbit or other skin or hair obtained from the same is .used as the source animal fibers from which the products of the present invention are obtained, we niay obtain as an ultimate product a light colored feltable fiber or felted mass, or felted fabric or felt bodies, otherwise obtainable only from the comparatively expensive natural white or light colored skins or hair obtained The products of the present invention are characterized further by their comparative cheapness, which givesthe same a very wide demand and a very pro fitable market.

tion will rea ily occur the art to which the same relates.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A feltable animal fibre impregnated with mercurial and iron compounds.

Other. advantages and supe riorities of the products of the present-invento those sln'lled of the hair 'or other 2. A feltable vanimal fibre incorporating a car'roting agent and a protective compound to protect the action thereon by the bleaching agent. I

3. A feltable animal fibre incorporating a .carroting agent and a protective compound to protect the fibre from excessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent.

mercurial carroting age nt and a. protective compound toprote'ct the fibre from excessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent. 1

, 5.'A feltabl'e animal fib're incorporating .a metallic salt carroting salt protective compound to protect the fibre fibre incorporating -a mercurial carroting agent and a metallic salt protective compound in the form of a compound of iron to protect the fibre from .thereon by the bleaching agent. I I

I 9. A felt ble animal fibre incorporating a metallic salt carrotingagent and a metallic salt protective compound in the form of'a compound of iron to protect the fibre from excessive chemical action thereon by the 10 A feltable animal fibre incorporating a," carrotin'g agent. and a metallic salt ,pro-

fibre from excessive chemical 4:. A feltable animal fibre'incorporating a.

a metallic salt proand a protective and accelerating compound,

said protective and accelerating com ound having served to protect the fibres 0 said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent.

12. A felted fabric comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of bleached ani mal fibres treated with a metallic salt-carroting agent and a protective and accelerating compound, said protective and accelerating compound having served to protect the fibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent.

13. A felted fabric comprising an inter- .laced and interfelted mass of bleached aniinal fibres treated with a mercurial carroting agent and a protective and accelerating compoun said protective and accelerating compound having served to protect the'fibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent.

ldhA felted fabric comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of bleached animal fibres treated with a mercurial carroting agent and a metallic salt protective and accelerating compound, said protective and accelcrating compound having served to protect the fibres of said fabric fromcxcessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent.

15. A felted fabric comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of bleached ani- .mal fibres treated with a metallic salt carrottect the chemical ing agent and a metallic salt protective and accelerating compound, said protective and accelerating compound having served to profibres of said fabric from excessive action thereon .by the bleaching agent. v p v s 16.. A felted fabric comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of bleached animal fibres treated with a carroting agent and a metallic salt compound, said protective and accelerating compound having served to protect the fibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by the bleaching agent.

' 17. A felted fabric comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of animal fibres treated with a carroting agent and a metallic s'alt' protective and accelerating compound ing served toprotect the fibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by said hydrogen peroxide.

18. A felted fabriccomprising an interlaced and inter-felted mass of animal fibres treated with a metallic carroting agent and a protective and accelerating.

compound having served to protectthe fibres of said fabric from excessivechemical action thereon by said hydrogen peroxide.

20. 'A felted fabric comprising an interlaced and iiiterfelted mass of animal fibres treated with a mercurial carroting agent and a protective and accelerating compound and bleached with hydrogen peroxide, said I protective and accelerating compound having served to protect the fibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by said hydrogen perdxide. V f 21. A felted fabric comprising an inter laced and interfelted mass of animal. fibres treated with a metallic carroting agent and a metallic salt protective and accelerating compound in the form of a compound of iron and bleached with hydrogen peroxide, said protective and accelerating compound having served ,to protect the fibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by said hydrogen peroxide.

22. A felted fabric comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of animal fibres treated with a carroting agent and a metalsaid fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by Y said hydrogen peroxide.

' 24. A felted fabric comprising an inter,

laced and interfelted mass of animal fibres treated with a mercurial carroting agent and a metallic salt protective and accelerating compound in the form of a. compound of iron and bleached with hydrogen peroxide, said protective and accelerating compound having served to protect the fibres of saidfabric from excessivechemical action thereon by said hydrogen peroxide.

'25. A felted fabric. comprising an interlaced and interfelted mass of animal fibrestreated with a metallic salt carroting agent and a metallic saltprotective and accelerating compound and bleached with hydrogen peroxide, said protective and accelerating 5 compound having served to protect thefibres of said fabric from excessive chemical action thereon by said hydrogen peroxide.

26. A bleached feltable animal fibre impregnated with mercurial and igon compounds. I

In testimony whereof, we have signed our' names to this specification this 29th day of January51925,

v HYMAN STEIN.

IRVING LIEBOWITZ. WILLIAM E.. AUSTIN. 

